Big Family Food and Fun: March 16-22, 2025

Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: March 16-22, 2025 post!

We enjoy a Sabbath rest from Saturday evening through Sunday evening – so I turn off my computer on Saturday afternoons and miss posting some of these pictures. I’ll catch up on our last Saturday activities before launching into our new week!

Saturday, March 15

It was a little bit chilly that afternoon and we needed to keep our kids active. So we put Auggie down for a nap and handed Elias and Malorie the baby monitor while we loaded the other kids up and went to the Children’s Museum for a couple of hours.

The sun was shining just right on the museum’s small outdoor area to create some warmth, so the kids made some music with the fun instruments.

Back at home later that afternoon, the kids ate Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins to hold them over until dinner. Then we had a simple meal of Mac and Cheese with frozen peas stirred in.

I caught Acacia practicing writing her name. Sooooo sweet!

Big Family Food and Fun: March 16-22, 2025

Sunday morning, the kids ate Breakfast Cookie Bars while we got ready for church. I had done all the prep work for our big Sunday Lunch on the Friday before, so all I had to do that morning was set everything out. The dessert section featured the leftover muffins from Saturday plus Brownies and Gluten Free Cookies that Kiya had made from a mix. (One of our friends coming over that day is celiac so it was fun to have these for her!)

I had Smoked several pounds of Chicken and a Pork Loin on Friday, then put them into crock pots. That morning, I poured some chicken stock into both crock pots, then left them on warm to be ready to serve when we got home from church.

I got Rolls out of the freezer, put a pot of Baked Beans on to heat while we were gone, plus put a package of Hot Dogs into my final crock pot to cook for kids to eat. I also steamed some Green Beans and made a pot of Cream Cheese Corn to stretch our meal.

When we got home, everyone worked together to get all the food set out. Our friend Cindy brought a huge crock pot full of Potatoes, our friend Breck brought Fruit, and the Phillips family brought Salad and Veggies.

The spread was fantastic and the time together was even better.

There were 32 of us gathered that day, and the fellowship was sweet.

 

This was one of my favorite scenes after lunch when people were gathered in the kitchen working together to put food away and talking, talking, talking. I’m so thankful for this home God provided for us so that so many can gather together to be in community.

Matt and I enjoyed our Community Group time later while the kids watched a movie with Elias and Malorie. I put three Frozen Pizzas in the oven to bake for our dinner, we played outside, then called it a day!

Monday morning, a few of the kids struggled with our “this is how we get ready for school” routine. After all, Spring Break last week was awesome!

The sun came out mid-morning so we headed outside to soak it up. Our neighbors have a trampoline and are kind enough to let us use it. The giggles were pretty sweet that morning.

And speaking of giggles, can you hear this picture? Oh, these girlies.

As soon as the girls got on their preschool bus, Auggie headed inside with Matt for his nap and I headed out to do some shopping. I had gone through all of our spring/summer clothes and needed to start shopping for some of the kids’ needs. All the kids needed sandals and I hit the jackpot on those.

Then I headed a few stores over to pick up several items from Aldi.

We had a Family Therapy session at our house that night, so I made a very early dinner of Mini Hamburgers, Fries, Baked Beans, Fruit, and Pickles. The rest of the evening was spent working with our Christian therapy team.

Tuesday morning, we ate a plate full of Angela’s Egg-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies that I had in the freezer.

I had bought 8-pounds of strawberries at Aldi the day before, and we’d already eaten two pounds. But that morning, I cut up another pound and made Cheesecake Parfait with them. SO GOOD. Somewhere in there, I blended up smoothie for Matt and me.

Auggie had speech therapy that morning, then he and I headed to Walmart and Sam’s to pick up just a few necessities.

That afternoon, Brayden, Kiya, Keith, and I went to our weekly Food Distribution site to hand out food to the community. Brayden and Keith helped clean coolers and mark canned goods.

Kiya helped sweep the kitchen afterward. :)

Back at home, I’d cut all of the Pork Loin leftovers from our Sunday Lunch and Matt had stirred in barbecue sauce to rewarm. He made a salad and we enjoyed a tasty and simple dinner.

One of our trees outside was blossoming and beautiful! But we’d been promised a big snow storm, so I took this picture, not knowing if the snow and cold would disturb the tree.

Sure enough, Wednesday we woke up to a storm and school was canceled for the day. We’ve lost track of how many snow days we’ve had this year. Brayden was eager to help me bake his favorite muffins: Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.

We used our mini muffin pan to make these more fun.

We had a turkey in the freezer from Christmastime, and I’d been thawing it. This day was a perfect day to bake it, so I rubbed seasoning all over it and baked it all morning.

We watched shows during the afternoon to pass the time indoors, Matt played games with the kids, and Malachi made his famous Hot Cocoa to celebrate the snow.

The turkey was cool enough by mid-afternoon to get all the meat off the bones. I poured broth all over it that had naturally cooked out of the turkey, and I put it away for our upcoming Sunday lunch.

Kiya made dinner that night almost all by herself (and I didn’t get any pictures of her doing it, boo). We had Orange Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, Rice, and Buttered Rolls.

Thursday morning, Josie insisted on putting an apron on at breakfast time. My aunt had given me this apron after her granddaughter outgrew it. So I had to send her a picture to prove that it was still being put to good use. :)

Throughout the day, I turned yesterday’s turkey bones into Broth. Our friend, Terra, came over to play with the littles while Matt and I met with Auggie’s new ABA therapist as we get a program set up for him.

Then we were blessed to have both grandbabies here all afternoon. They are at such a fun age to sit side-by-side to “play together.” That have sweet little babble conversations and Lolli and Pop just get to enjoy them. So much of our day is filled with therapy needs for our kids – and THIS is therapy for us. It was a delightful afternoon.

The kitchen was hopping that afternoon when everyone got home from school. Why have an afternoon snack when you can just move right into dinner at 4:45? Everyone is starving at this point in the day, so I cut up the $5 ham I’d cooked in a roaster all afternoon. Brayden made salad, Kiya buttered rolls, and we got out a fresh pineapple that I’d cut earlier. Acacia decided she couldn’t wait, so she started to eat the countertop.

Kelsey had come to pick up Little Sweetheart, and she blessed us by staying to eat with us. (Justus had worship team rehearsal that night.) Magically, all seven kids sat at the table gobbling up food at the same time.

Afterward, Matt took kids outside to pick up branches that had fallen during Wednesday’s snow storm. Kiya did her part, then helped me use leftover ham to make Egg Casserole.

Matt told all the kids that if they worked really hard to get the branches picked up, we’d have a special treat. A neighbor had told us that DQ was giving away free ice cream cones that night. So we loaded up and headed out to enjoy this. Amazingly – I think because they’d had such a full day at school, then a good dinner, then worked hard in the fresh air picking up branches – they all sat still and were so sweet enjoying their ice cream cones on this special outing!

Friday morning, I baked the Egg Casserole that Kiya and I had put together the night before. We ate it with the rest of the Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins Brayden had helped me make earlier in the week.

I baked eight pans worth of bacon for our upcoming Sunday lunch. I had planned to set out fixings for people to make Turkey Bacon Sandwiches or Salads.

Little Sweetheart came to join us for the morning, and we all went outside to enjoy the sunshine.

We had a full evening with Auggie’s therapist coming again to spend the evening assessing his needs as she works out an ABA therapy plan for him. Our friends, the Case family, wanted to give us a break and brought over a huge Chinese food dinner for all of us to share together that night. What a blessing. :)

Their daughter enjoyed a nail salon with our girlies after dinner.

Saturday morning, I made a quadruple batch of No-Bake Granola Bar Bites to have on hand.

We had planned on going to our favorite library story time, then to a park. But Keith woke up not feeling great, so instead, Matt stayed home with Keith, Kiya, and Brayden while I ventured out to the library on my own with the youngest four kids.

I appreciate pictures like this one, with the three little girls holding hands so sweetly as they walked into the library. The reality is that I’d been screamed at and had battled with at least five of the seven kids for most of the morning before arriving at the library at 9:15. Their poor broken hearts often choose to sabotage any kind of calm we try to encourage and provide in our home. (And Auggie is a screamer because of his disabilities.) Outings are exhausting to make happen, but very worth it. Because this —>

And also this.

Kelsey and Little Sweetheart met us there (the only reason I felt like I could tackle taking the four littlest out on my own). Little Sweetheart was precious as she took it all in.

Back at home, we decided to leave Keith behind to hang out with Elias. Then the rest of us packed a picnic and headed to a park to play and eat. Today’s lunch was simple: guacamole with chips or crackers, peanut butter on graham crackers, cheese sticks, hard salami, and applesauce.

After we played until way past Auggie’s naptime, we headed home, got him down, then had the kids play outside all afternoon. I made a double batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies – and look! They actually look pretty. ;) For some reason, I’ve had a difficult time figuring out the oven in this house, and my cookies never turn out pretty. This time, they did what they were supposed to do!

We did a little bit of cleaning as we prepared for our time of Sabbath rest. Friends came over who had been without power and water since Wednesday, the poor dears. They borrowed our showers and washing machine, and I hope were encouraged after their days of living out Little House on the Prairie life. :)

And that was our week!